Expression of migration and cultural experiences of refugee students in secondary school through painting

In this thesis study, a total of forty refugee students, twenty-one male and nineteen female, between the ages of 11-14, who continue their education at Öğretmen Ömer Aydın Secondary School in the central district of Kırşehir province, affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, were determined as the analysis unit. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the expression of migration and cultural experiences of refugee students through paintings within the scope of the Visual Arts course. Answers were sought for twelve basic questions created for this purpose. One of the questions prioritizes the demographic characteristics of the participants, another one prioritizes the determination of the prominent themes in the participants' paintings, while the remaining ten questions cover the interview questions conducted with the participants. Accordingly, a semi-structured interview form was developed in order to deeply understand the participants' attitudes and experiences towards the Visual Arts course. This research was conducted with a case study design, one of the qualitative research designs. The draw and tell technique was used in the data collection process. The participants were made to draw during a 35-minute lesson at school. As a result of the analysis of the paintings made by the participants, six different theme titles were identified. The findings show that the positive or negative life experiences, cultural influences and individual perceptions encountered by refugee students are significantly reflected in the theme, color use and image preferences in the paintings. In this context, it was concluded that artistic production, and therefore pictorial narrative, provides the basis for reflecting the migration and sociocultural affiliations of the participants.